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History · Merryville

Merryville’s post office opened in 1881, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Burks House. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1946 on, and the census since 1920.

1881first post office
1on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Merryville began

When was Merryville founded?

1881

The Merryville post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 2,963 in 19202020 census: 967145 years
Founding year: the first Merryville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Merryville’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Merryville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Merryville’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewChris Cagle: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Merryville, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Merryville yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Merryville is a town in Beauregard Parish, Louisiana, United States. As of the 2020 census, Merryville had a population of 967. It is part of the DeRidder Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Its first post office opened in 1881. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,103 to 967 (-12%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Merryville, 1881 to 1946

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1881Post officeThe Merryville post office opens
  3. 1897Born hereSam H. Jones is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1919Born hereJesse Monroe Knowles is born here
  6. 1929In the archiveChris Cagle
  7. 1946On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Merryville, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s1 item
Chris Cagle1929Chris Cagle
1930s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today5 recent
Merryville Louisiana Police2013Merryville Louisiana PoliceCoushatta Indian Village Merryville,Louisiana 4702010Coushatta Indian Village Merryville,Louisiana 470Map of Beauregard Parish Louisiana With Municipal and District Labels2007Map of Beauregard Parish Louisiana With Municipal and…MapMap of Beauregard Parish Louisiana With Municipal Labels2007Map of Beauregard Parish Louisiana With Municipal Lab…MapLAMap-doton-Merryville2004LAMap-doton-Merryville
On the map

Merryville on the map, 1946 to 1984

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Merryville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Merryville on the 1946 USGS mapMerryville on the 1954 USGS mapMerryville on the 1984 USGS map1946Merryville sheet · 1:31,680

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Merryville.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Chris Cagle
Retake this viewChris Cagle, 1929

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Merryville’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Merryville

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1987
Burks House
Burks House
Buildings
Burks HouseBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Merryville, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,000192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,963

Between 967 and 2,963 people in every census since 1920.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Merryville’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Merryville

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Sam H. Jones46th Governor of Louisiana · b. 1897
J
Jesse Monroe KnowlesRecipient of the Purple Heart medal · b. 1919

Questions about Merryville’s history

What year was Merryville founded?

The Merryville post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Merryville?

One place: the Burks House (listed 1987).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.